On the Outside
by Dave Sek
Summary: When Faith busts out of prison, it's up to Buffy to put the Rogue Slayer back behind bars.


"You'll pay for what you did to me!" Kakistos roared. Faith gasped as he bent down and bit her neck. In the end, all the running in the world hadn't helped. She was going to join her Watcher.  
  
  
  
Faith woke with a start. Her prison uniform was stuck to her skin, she had been sweating so much. She preferred to sleep in the nude, but her cellmate disapproved greatly of that. Instead of starting a fight she knew she could win, Faith just relented and slept fully clothed.  
  
Climbing off the top bunk, she made her way to the sink and splashed water on her face. She heard her cellmate groan in response, but she ignored her. The last few weeks, Faith had been haunted by dreams of Kakistos. A part of her blamed him for her prison stint. If he hadn't killed her Watcher, she never would have arrived in Sunnydale, never would have killed the deputy mayor. But that was all in the past now. Her crimes had gone on to more than just killing one man.  
  
A part of Faith wished she'd been given the death penalty. Anything would be better than living in a cell with fat Patty Bankston. She couldn't think of a single downside. There would be a new Slayer called, one who may even work for Buffy instead of against her. Sometimes she thought the world would be a better place if she just took her own life, but she would never do that.  
  
Faith heard screams, which erased all thoughts of suicide. A moment later, there was gunfire. Patty sat up in bed, banging her head against the top bunk. She then shot Faith an accusatory look, as if Faith was the one causing the commotion.  
  
"What in the bloody **** is going on out there?" Patty demanded. Faith saw across the hall that the rest of the inmates were all awake now, looking to see what was going on.  
  
A moment later, a giant rat type demon entered the room. The creature walked on all fours, and Faith could see body parts in the creature's mouth. Faith wasn't a stranger to human blood, but the sight even made her feel nauseous. She heard several cellmates vomiting, and behind her Patty started to pray to God. No easy task, as the woman was an atheist.  
  
Before she even realized what she was doing, Faith used her Slayer's strength to bend the bars and exit her cell. She started to approach the demon before turning and bending the bars back, so Patty couldn't escape. Faith had learned from her cellmate that her crimes were nothing in comparison to Patty's; letting the woman escape just wouldn't do.  
  
Seeing Faith as the only human not locked up, the demon charged towards her. Faith waited until right before the demon approached her before leaping in the air. She twisted in the air so that she kicked the demon in the head, and then landed behind the creature. The monster appeared confused at first, but it spun around to continue its attack.  
  
Once again, Faith leaped over the creature, but this time she landed on its back. The demon started bucking, but she held on to it's fur as she spun herself around. Grabbing hold of the creature's head, she gave it a quick snap, killing it instantly.  
  
Before Faith fully realized what she was doing, she made a dash for the door. Some inmates cheered her on while others begged her to use her strength to free them so they could follow her. She merely ignored them.  
  
  
  
Buffy arrived at Giles's has at 10:26PM. He was so busy cleaning his glasses that he didn't even hear her enter. Smiling to herself, Buffy let out a small cough. Giles jumped in surprise.  
  
"Oh Buffy, I didn't see you come in!" he exclaimed.  
  
"No duh, Giles," she laughed. "So what's the scoop?"  
  
"Oh, um, yes," he said, turning on the television. "Turns out there's a news report on about some sort of commotion at a prison in LA that I think you really need to see."  
  
"You tape the news?" Buffy asked. "'Spongebob' I could sort of see, but the news?"  
  
"Well, I was out," Giles said, a bit defensively. "On a date," he added a moment later.  
  
"Ooh," Buffy squealed. "With Olivia?"  
  
"No, I'm afraid I haven't seen here since the Gentlemen came to town," Giles responded. Buffy could tell by the tone in his voice that he was quite sad Olivia was no longer a part of his life. "But forget about my date for a moment. If forever reason I'm not home when the news plays, I always tape it should something bizarre happens. Fortunately so, as tonight shows. Watch."  
  
Buffy flopped down on Giles's couch as he pushed the play button. A Korean man appeared on the screen with a picture of a state prison behind him.  
  
"Witnesses report that the carcass of some sort of giant mutated rat was discovered in the lobby of the state prison," the newsman reported. "All the guards on duty were apparently killed by this monstrosity. Several inmates reported that one female managed to get out of her cell, kill the beast, and then flee the scene. While the prison has confirmed there is an inmate missing, they are remaining surprisingly tight lipped about who this inmate is."  
  
Giles turned off the TV. Buffy was glad, as she didn't really need to hear any more. She didn't need the reporter to tell her the escapee's name to know who had busted out. "Faith."  
  
"I should say so," Giles remarked. "You know what you have to do."  
  
"I'm on it," Buffy remarked, and she was on her way out the door.  
  
  
  
"No, please!" the man screamed as a long blonde haired female vampire bit into him.  
  
"Would you stop your whimpering?" Harmony Kendall whined, letting go of the man. "I swear, you humans just don't taste right when you're about to wet your pants."  
  
"I thought you vampires liked the taste of a scared human."  
  
Harmony turned around to see who had approached from behind. It was a dark haired woman in what looked like a prison uniform. "Maybe your average vampire does," Harmony shrugged. "The freaks and the geeks that like living in the sewer. I have much more refined tastes."  
  
"It must be so hard finding a decent meal," the dark haired woman said. "But you don't have to worry about it, because in two seconds you're going to find yourself as a pile of dust."  
  
Harmony laughed. "Well look at you," she said. "Miss Vampire Slayer Wannabe." She turned back to the man she had been attacking, who just as she was afraid he would do had peed in his pants. "Why don't you go ahead and go on home? Looks like a tastier meal has just arrived."  
  
The man didn't need to be told twice. As soon as he was gone, the dark haired woman stepped forward. "You ready to do this thing?" she asked.  
  
"Always," Harmony responded.  
  
The fight lasted several minutes. The woman was much tougher than Harmony had given her credit for. After several minutes, the woman had Harmony's face pressed against the wall. "Ow!" Harmony shrieked. "Sheesh, you're just as tough as the Slayer."  
  
"That's because I am a Slayer," the woman responded. "The name's Faith, and now yours is toast." Faith slung Harmony to the ground and then grabbed a broken staff from a nearby garbage can. She slung the staff straight at Harmony's heart, but the vampire got her hand up just in time.  
  
"Ow!" Harmony shrieked as the staff went into her hand and getting stuck on a bone. She yanked the staff out and tossed it aside, and then started sucking her hand. When she realized Faith was looking at her, she lowered her hand. "It hurts. I'm not sucking my own blood," she said. When Faith didn't respond, she insisted, "I'm not!"  
  
Faith started to advance towards Harmony when she heard a shriek coming from a block or so away. The shriek drew Faith's attention. When she turned around, Harmony was out of sight. Cursing slightly to herself, Faith turned and ran towards whoever was in trouble.  
  
  
  
The vampire never even realized Buffy was behind him until after he was halfway to Dustville. The woman in front of the vampire threw her arms around Buffy and gave her a hug. When she pulled away, she was ecstatic.  
  
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the woman screamed. "You saved my life!" And with that, the woman was off.  
  
Dusting herself off, Buffy mumbled, "Well, that was weird." Grabbing her stake, she stuck it in her pocket and then rose to her feet. "All right, Faith, you can come out of hiding."  
  
Faith stepped from around the side of a building. "Wow, B," Faith remarked. "How'd you know it was me and not another vamp?"  
  
"I heard you breathing," Buffy responded. "Could have been a demon, but I was pretty sure it was you. You do know you're going back to prison, don't you?"  
  
Faith laughed. "And what if I say that I'm returning to Sunnydale to kill your cute little boyfriend Riley?" Faith asked.  
  
Buffy was momentarily caught off guard. "He's not my boyfriend any more," she remarked.  
  
"Oh. Sorry," Faith said, and Buffy was surprised to find that Faith actually seemed sincere. When Faith saw the expression on Buffy's face, she smiled. "I'm not going to fight you, Buffy," she responded. "The truth is, this morning when I got out, I thought I was free. I thought, 'I can start my life over again.' But that's not going to happen, is it? No matter what I've done, I have to live with what I did. I think it's better to go back to prison. Besides, the women in there can be more demonic than some vampires I know."  
  
From the look on her face, it appeared Buffy wasn't sure if Faith was telling the truth. "You don't believe me?" she asked.  
  
"I don't get you," Buffy admitted. "You had friends who were there for you, but you turn your back on them and become a murderer. Now you have the chance to be free, and you're willing to return to prison. I don't get it."  
  
"Neither do I," Faith responded. "But I'm content to just live my life as normally as I can for the moment. Not that prison is exactly normal," she added as an afterthought, "but I want to take my punishment just like anybody else would. It's what I deserve."  
  
When Faith quit speaking, neither Slayer said anything for a moment. After several seconds of staring at each other, Buffy turned, without so much as a word, and walked away.  
  
  
  
Buffy returned to Giles apartment just as he was preparing to watch the morning news. "Any luck finding Faith?" he asked.  
  
"None," she lied. "I searched all over Los Angeles, and I couldn't find a single sign of her." She hated lying to Giles, but she didn't think he would understand if she explained she just let Faith walk away. She just hoped and prayed Faith would do the right thing.  
  
On the news, the newscaster was beginning to speak.  
  
"Apparently the prisoner that escaped yesterday morning is back in custody," he said. "The escapee, who officials still haven't released a name on, reportedly returned to the prison of her own free will early this morning. Prison officials report that the prisoner was extremely cooperative and apologized for the inconvenience."  
  
Giles turned the TV off and turned to Buffy. "Apparently Faith isn't ready to live on the outside again," he commented.  
  
Buffy didn't respond. She just smiled. 


End file.
